PETA goes nearly nude in Vernon meat protest

Activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals like to nude up in their demonstrations, and last week was no exception. On Friday, three ladies stripped down (well, they were wearing panties) in front of a Farmer John sausage processing plant in Vernon to protest the consumption of meat and what they claim is the inhumane treatment of farm animals.

The activists were laid out in human-sized meat trays and then bound in plastic wrap to drive home the message that animals and humans are all meat. Or, as their packaging stickers read: flesh. Other activists carried signs that read “Meat is Murder.”

“We chose this slaughterhouse in particular because it’s surrounded by a mural depicting pigs that are out in green pastures, they’re frolicking, and of course the reality is that pigs and other animals raised for today’s meat industry are for the most part raised in filthy, abusive factory farms every days of their lives,” said Ashley Byrne, manager of campaigns for PETA. “Most of them don’t feel the sun on their backs until they’re loaded onto trucks for the slaughterhouse."

Farmer John, run by Clougherty Packing, is a Southern California company probably best known now as the maker of Dodger Dogs. It is also affiliated with the Kings, the Galaxy, Staples Center, the Rose Bowl and other entertainment entities around town. Requests for comment from the company were not returned.

The protest was part of a series of global actions that comprised the World Week for the Abolition of Meat.

The pastoral mural on the side of the Farmer John building is well known and included in several guidebooks and enthusiast websites like L.A. Bizarro.

Activists reported that several employees came out of the plant to check out the scene (naked women) but did not interact with the demonstration.

“Seeing a human wrapped in cellophane with blood smeared around, it makes people think,” Byrne said. “Of course, it’s appalling to think about cooking and eating a human being. But animals have the same capacity for pain and suffering as we do. We’re hoping that this will make people look at flesh in a different way.”

PETA is very well known for using naked or partially naked volunteers in their awareness campaigns, sometimes with their bodies marked up like a butcher's diagram or wearing lettuce bikinis. Celebrities such as Alicia Silverstone and former George Clooney girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis have posed nude for the organization.